This invention relates to sinus surgery. More particularly, this invention relates to a safety device for use during sinus surgery to lower the chances of injury to the eye or its ancillary organs. This invention also relates to an associated method or technique utilizable during sinus surgery to decrease the incidence of injury to the eye organs.
During sinus surgery, a nasal endoscope is inserted through a patient's nostril to enable visualization of nasal or sinus tissues. Also inserted through the same nostril is an operating instrument such as a sinus or biopsy forceps. The operating physician or surgeon controls the forceps to extract tissue particles and other matter in response to the visual image provided through the endoscope.
The bone structure underlying the eyeball and separating the eye and its surrounding fatty tissue and ancillary organs from the sinus cavity is an extremely thin and delicate structure. It is occasionally perforated during sinus surgery. Upon the perforation of the bone, the eyeball or ancillary organs such as the optic nerve, the retinal artery, or the muscles moving the eye, may be damaged. Complications vary from a mild blackeye to partial or total loss of vision.
To guard against the possibility of injuring the eye in this way, the sinus surgeon can periodically press the eyeball (globe) with a finger or thumb. If the bone separating the eye from the sinus cavity is perforated or has become very thin, the pressure on the globe produces a movement visible through the nasal endoscope. The surgeon then knows that further removal of tissue in the area of the movement is hazardous and may result in injury to the eye.